A loud crash resounded followed by jingling and clanging. Harry groaned as his elbow protested loudly at colliding with whatever hard and unforgiving surface he had catapulted into. It was extremely dark and Harry found he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. He bushed his finger over it and felt a sharp pain from the dull throb in his thumb. Gingerly he pulled a splinter of wood out from his thumb and let out a low hiss.

Then he froze as his ears picked up the sound of heavy and agitated footsteps somewhere outside his prison. Holding his breath he became aware that his backside was touching something hard, and his arm was resting against a cool, smooth piece of wood. At the sound of a door opening he tensed - and instantly felt that he was off-balance. He could also feel a massive sneeze coming on.

"Severus!" the voice was a hushed shout. "What are you doing? Your mother's trying to sleep." Harry's eyes widened in the dark. He was still back in the past? With Snape?

He realised he had missed whatever reply Snape had made as the man's voice filtered through the wooden walls to him again. "Honestly Severus, there's nothing there. Monsters do not exist."

"Yes, they do!" A small voice piped up. It held just the edge of a miserable whine.

"No. They don't Severus. We've been through this before. There is no monster in your wardrobe. There is no monster under your bed either." Harry grinned, imagining a tiny Snape pointing over the side of his bed. "Now go back to sleep. Your mother isn't well and she's very tired. So am I. You must be exhausted - it's past midnight!"

"I'm not tired! I won't go back to sleep. Why can't Mummy come and see me?"

"Because she's not well. She needs her sleep. And you are tired; I can see the bags under your eyes."

"No! She's always tired. When is she going to get better?" Snape whined, the sound of eminent tears leaking through into the plaintive voice.

"Soon. Now go back to sleep Severus."

A few moments later Harry heard the door click shut and the footsteps fade away into the house.

He waited a moment more then carefully pushed the door open. It swung silently into the room. He grinned at the small lump under the bed clothes. Putting out a hand he let it hover just millimetres above the lump. Then he frowned and gently sat on the bed.

"Severus? You alright? It's me, Ha- uh, I mean 'Uncle Longbottom'." There was no sound from under the blankets other than heavy breathing which sounded like someone was very hot and running out of air. Harry reached forward and gently tugged the covers back. A small boy, much smaller than he remembered, was lying on his back his eyes squeezed tightly shut, sweaty hair glued to his forehead and his red pyjama top with spaceships stuck damply to his chest.

"Oh." Harry breathed. He sat for a moment unsure of what to do. Finally he coughed. Severus jerked and his eyes flew open to stare in terror at the man above him. Then he relaxed. "Who are you?"

"Um." Harry was puzzled at the sudden change in the atmosphere. "I'm your Uncle."

The boy frowned. "I don't have one." He grew suddenly fearful again. "Are you a monster in disguise?"

Harry choked back a laugh. "No! Are you?" He grinned at the tiny potions master.

"Yes!" Severus bounced upwards onto his knees, toppling forward into Harry who caught him slightly clumsily. "I'm the meanest, gignormouses T-rex in the whole world." He flung his arms wide and Harry quickly slid his arms round the small boy, holding him up in a sitting position as the Severus leaned precariously backwards. "In the whole Space!" Severus added as an afterthought.

"Really?!" Harry feigned astonishment. He had never realised little kids were so much fun. Dumbledore should have brought them in as stress relievers during the exams, he thought trying not to laugh.

"Yes!" Severus rocked forward suddenly, pressing a fat finger onto Harry's lips. "But you mustn’t tell. It's a secret." He pushed his finger through Harry's lips into his mouth, fascinated by his teeth. "Are they yours? Gran'pa has some but they in a glass of water. He says they're only pretending an' they don't have any gold like Daddy's. Do you have gold in your teef?"

Harry tried to move away but quickly realised he had to grab the marauding finger to get it out of his mouth. He gripped the small hand in his own. "Yes they're mine." He muttered, sliding his tongue round his mouth to get rid of the feel of the child's finger. "And no, they don't have any gold."

"Why?"

"Err, because... Because.... Because I'm a wizard and I'm only eighteen so I don't need any yet." And hopefully never he thought darkly.

The dark eyes had widened into small glowing orbs in the round face. "A wizard! You mean you can do magic?"

Harry felt confused. Didn't Severus have magical parents? Didn't he know he was a wizard? "Uh, yes. But not here or people will know I'm around."

"Oh." Severus' face fell. "Not any?"

Harry winced. How had such a cute adorable puppy-dog type child grown into the snarky dungeon bat? "Err..." He remembered the teddy he had bought the boy, supposedly in Snape's future he guessed. "Maybe just a very little bit." He watched the boy's face light up and smiled. "Shut your eyes."

Snape immediately squeezed them tight shut and clamped his hands over them, pressing his palms down as hard as he could. "Tight shut." Harry warned, turning to reach into the bag he'd put behind him on the bed. "Ah!" he chided as he caught Snape lifting a palm for a sneak peek, "No looking."

"I'm not looking!" Severus retorted happily. "All I can see is black."

Harry grinned and wiggled the bear in front of Snape's face, causing the boy to rub noses with the small, fluffy teddy. There was a delighted squeal and Snape grabbed the bear with both arms, scrunching it into his face. "Thank you, thank you, thank you Uncle Longbottom!!" He squealed.

But his cries fell only into the empty room, Harry had vanished once again and the small boy was left staring in wonder and dismay at a handful of sparkling silver pixie dust which settled silently onto his duvet.